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Funeral set for boy who died after football tackle

Associated Press – updated Thursday, August 22, 2013 - 10:46pm

FAIRBURN, Ga. (AP) — Funeral services have been set for a suburban Atlanta high school player who suffered a deadly spinal cord injury during a preseason football game.

The funeral for 16-year-old De'Antre Turman is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral at 212 Riverside Parkway in Austell.

The junior at Creekside High School in Fairburn fractured a vertebrae in his upper spinal cord during a scrimmage Friday night, investigators in the Atlanta area's Fulton County Medical Examiner's officials have said.

One of Turman's coaches from an after-school college prep program told WXIA-TV that the teen appeared to go limp immediately after tackling the receiver from the opposing team.

Georgia High School Association Executive Director Ralph Swearngin has said his agency will investigate the circumstances of the death.

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